Toronto's Metrolinx taps Bombardier for 182 more LRVs

Bombardier Transportation announced Monday it has signed aUS$715 million agreement to exercise an option with Metrolinx for 182 Flexitylow-floor light rail transit cars, included in a June 2009 contract. Deliverywill begin in 2013, with completion targeted for 2020.

And, under theagreement, up to an additional 118 vehicles could be ordered at a later date. Though termed “streetcars” by Bombardier, the cars announced Monday are for Toronto’s Transit City LRT lines, and they will be larger thanthe 204 cars previously ordered for Toronto’s Legacy System. “These are lightrail vehicles, not streetcars,” a Toronto source clarifies. Regardless of the terminology, the new cars also will slowly replace Toronto Transit Commission’scurrent fleet of 248 cars purchased in the 1970s and 1980s.

“Bombardier is proud to be part of this very importantexpansion of public transit in Toronto and greatly appreciates the confidenceMetrolinx has placed in us,” said Raymond Bachant, president, BombardierTransportation, North America. “This order further solidifies our presence inOntario and highlights Bombardier’s proven state of the art light railtechnology, which is available to all cities in North America.”

The Flexity cars will provide a step-less interior allowingeasy access at street level; car capacity for more than 280 passengers;efficient heating and air conditioning; comfortable interior; enhanced accessibilityand safety features; locations for wheelchairs and strollers; active leveling systemto ease boarding and exiting; enhanced communications features; and a regenerativebraking system that feeds power back into the Metrolinx network.

Final assembly of these additional vehicles for Toronto willtake place at Bombardier’s production facility in Thunder Bay, Ontario.